Yesterday – One success, one failure

A lot of motivational bloggers are full of shit. The way they write, you’d think they can walk on water. Well, I’m not a motivational blogger for one. Also, I’m honest. I’ll tell you when I succeed and I’ll also tell you when I fuck up.

Yesterday, I did both.

About to record guitar parts for a song

I totally nailed my guitar parts for one song. On guitar, I’m completely confident. If the evil guy had hostages and threatened to kill the hostages unless I played my guitar part perfectly, I’d nail the part without a sweat.

However on piano, I’m a mess. I had an opportunity to record a Classical piece I wrote on a $40,000 grand piano and when I had the chance, I screwed up. Twenty takes and we couldn’t use a single one.

So much is in your head

Never underestimate the importance of a good sports psychologist. In sports, mindset is the difference between average and good, and good and great. You could have all the skill sets in the world but you’ll need the right mindset to take you to the next level.

The same applies for life.

I have the confidence of a lion on the guitar but the confidence of a one-eyed house cat on piano

In life, mindset makes the difference between success and failure. I’ve always seen myself as a guitarist, so nailing guitar parts while the clock is ticking and everyone’s getting paid? No problem.

Piano? Nope. Completely fucked up the parts despite nailing them at 6AM before driving into the recording studio.

Here’s how it applies to drawing. Until only a few years ago, I had no confidence whatsoever in my drawing. I thought I was drawing retarded. I was already in my 40s and still drew like a little kid.

So I decided to do something about it. I took lessons.

Keep in mind, I had paid for lessons before in my life and still drew like a little kid. That made me feel even more drawing retarded.

Where mindset comes in

This time around though, I was absolutely determined. Plus, I have a new female friend of mine who is drop dead gorgeous and likes being naked in front of me. I know deep down inside, she truly believes I’ll be an artist and wants to be immortalized in my future paintings. More power to her. I can’t let her down.

So I have no choice. I have to succeed. When others depend on me, I actually fare much better. That’s how my brain is wired.

I started taking lessons again in addition to working with my live model. The lessons are costing me a lot of money, but they’re worth every penny. This time I won’t give up.

The same thing happened with weightlifting. I always had ridiculously strong legs but a pathetic chest.

At 150 pounds, I shot up from 250 deadlifting to 315 in no time at all. It took me forever to even bench one plate one time.

Now, I warm up with a plate (despite dropping down to 140 pounds – I like being slim). My next chest push will be to bench two plates twice while weighing 155 or less.

For some reason, I have the right mindset for guitar, weightlifting, and drawing, but the wrong mindset for piano. I might have to hire a coach to get me through this. I know the problem is in my head, because several hours before getting to the recording studio, I nailed my parts perfectly on the practice keyboard.

About the featured image

We have a fantastic drum sound. Our secret? For one, work with professional (not amateurs, but experienced professional) sound engineers. For another, record the drums on analog metal tape, not digital.

Digital recording is still at least a decade away from sounding anywhere near analog when it comes to percussive sounds. Vocals sound great recorded either digitally or with analog tape. However drums? You still have to record them analog.